This Field Guide is a concise, organized reference that explains the functions and configurations of astronomical instrumentation. It provides an overview of aspects of astronomical instrumentation from principles of general optics and optical design to optical manufacturing and systems engineering. Practitioners will also gain valuable information on polarimeters, interferometers, coronagraphs, cryogenics, software, and more.

This Field Guide to Astronomical Instrumentation is the
one book that the three of us would want to carry with us if
we had to single-handedly design an astronomical instrument
on a remote mountain top. To keep it concise, it
focuses on the ultraviolet to infrared wavelength range.
The Field Guide is not intended to serve as a textbook, but
as a handy desktop reference to be found in the labs and
offices of instrument builders.

This book contains information on a wide range of topics,
from fundamental physics to project management, and
from technical concepts to material properties. Only the
most important concepts and equations are presented here.
In many areas, dedicated SPIE Field Guides discuss
particular topics in much more detail. While we tried to
maintain consistency with other volumes in this series, we
wrote this Field Guide in the language that instrumental
astronomers use, which might sometimes

A Field Guide that strives to cover such a wide variety of
topics will naturally overlook some potentially relevant
topics. We look forward to suggestions from our readers on
how to improve this Field Guide for its next edition.

Last but not least, we greatly appreciate the continuous
support of our families in this endeavor.